**NEWS RELEASE**
Subject: OU PROFESSOR NAMED ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA OUTSTANDING ADVISER
3-31-09
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dr. Glenda Earwood Executive Director
National Alpha Lambda Delta
(478)744-9595 FAX: (478) 744-9924
glenda@nationalald.org
NORMAN — Alice Lanning, University of Oklahoma director of Freshman Programs for University College, has been named as the Outstanding Adviser of Alpha Lambda Delta for 2009 and 2010. Created in 1992, this award is given annually to the premier adviser in the nation.
Lanning has served as the OU chapter adviser for Alpha Lambda Delta since 2001, and served for four years on the society’s national council as a member-at-large.
“ALD has been an overwhelming success on our campus due to the supervision and guidance of Dr. Lanning,” said Douglas Gaffin, professor of zoology and dean of University College at OU. “Under her stewardship, OU students have been rewarded handsomely and recognized at the national level.”
Lanning has encouraged both the chapter and individuals to achieve and serve others. During her tenure as adviser, more than a dozen OU students have been awarded the prestigious Jo Anne Trow Scholarship. OU has been home to 14 total Trow winners since 2003 — the most of any Alpha Lambda Delta chapter in the nation. Also under Lanning’s leadership, the OU chapter has been awarded the Order of the Torch outstanding chapter award, and has consistently taken the Maintaining the Flame, a follow-up award to the Order of the Torch.
Notable projects undertaken by the chapter in recent years include a book drive, which brought in more than 3,000 children’s books for libraries devastated by Hurricane Katrina; a national challenge to chapters to contribute funds to ALD in celebration of the society’s 85th anniversary; and countless campus and community service projects.
In her letter supporting Lanning’s nomination, chapter president Emily Fuhr wrote, “From the moment the new officers stepped into office, we knew that Dr. Lanning was an incredible person who cared deeply for ALD.”
A new aspect of the Adviser of the Year Award is a $200 cash prize, which will be awarded to the chapter by National Alpha Lambda Delta.
Lanning’s selection for this prestigious award confirms the sentiment expressed by Fuhr: “I do not believe we could have asked for a better adviser than Dr. Lanning.”
Lanning, in addition to directing Freshman Programs at OU, is a professional reviewer for McGraw Hill, Wadsworth (Cenage), Prentice-Hall and Kendall-Hunt publishers. She is managing editor of the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy and a permanent board member of the OU Gail Boyd de Stwolinkski Center for Music Theory Pedagogy. Since coming to OU, she has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Amoco Award for Undergraduate Teaching, the Associates Distinguished Lectureship in the OU College of Fine Arts and the University of Oklahoma Student Association Outstanding Professor in the College of Fine Arts.
Lanning earned her bachelor’s degree in music theory from OU before traveling to Mills College in Oakland, Calif., to earn her master’s degree in music history and literature. She returned to OU to receive her doctorate in music theory pedagogy.
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